David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2021

Every entrepreneur needs to understand the following basics, to be addressed at company formation, as they engage a qualified attorney to draw up the paperwork: Allocate founder’s stock commensurate with commitment. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. This is called stock dilution control.

Vesting 298

Vesting Dilution Stock Founder Vesting 298

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

Some of these folks are founders and CEOs, but not at high-growth tech startups. Helpful investors should use their sage advice and support of the founder to make them into better, data-driven decision makers to impact a company, instead of relying on their contractually held voting rights. Perhaps they inherited it.

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As the idea went from innovating on software & systems to launching a company to rolling it out in the field brought on Rahul Gandhi as his co-founder to physically launch the company. An example of the systems companies build are pricing & revenue management tools to best help to optimize yield.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The downside is loss of control and financial dilution.

Founder 325

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

I raised money and traded equity, but with my venture, I had to make one of the toughest decisions, to build it with some assistance of co-founders. Find the right co-founders. Having co-founders provides a strategy to avoid funding your start-up, with the help of investor’s money.

Cofounder 124

Cofounder Sweat Equity Equity Dilution 124

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

If you’re an early employee at a startup, one day you will wake up to find that what you worked on 24/7 for the last year is no longer the most important thing – you’re no longer the most important employee, and process, meetings, paperwork and managers and bosses have shown up. Manager of people and process? Special projects?

Part-Time VPE 333

Part-Time VPE Employee Cofounder Hiring 333

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

years ago and told me, “I just got offered the chance to buy this company because the founder doesn’t want to continue. How much dilution should I take for it?&# My friend’s company was pre-revenue. Me: “Zero dilution. Sometimes this involves co-CEO’s. BUT … it’s your company.

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2021

A popular myth these days is that finishing college only dilutes your entrepreneurial instincts, and the best of the best, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out early to hasten their success. I agree with Robert E. Practical business courses are better than an advanced degree or MBA. Get real experience early.

Entrepreneur 373

Entrepreneur Chad Incubator Dilution 373

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Alternative Capital. “

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 16, 2016

By Bryan Miles, CEO and co-founder, Miles Advisory Group, Inc. Manage cash flow. But take it from what a good friend and advisor once said to me: “Ego is dilutive to net worth.”. Bryan Miles is CEO & co-founder of Miles Advisory Group, Inc. Expect it, plan for it and don’t apologize for it.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Balance Sheet Small Business Administration Technical Review 100

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

by Arsalan Sajid, startup community manager at Cloudways. You are looking for cofounders that can help you build a product. You have finally found a cofounder that can take care of the startup. You might have to hire more team members because your initial team will be struggling to manage all those customers. Commitment.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The downside is loss of control and financial dilution.

Hockey Stick 243

Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

The Next Web

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Two more entrepreneurial ventures later, Gleb cofounded online backup provider Backblaze to help consumers affordably, automatically, and safely back up their data. What are the pros and cons of starting a business alone versus with cofounders? How many founders are too many? One” – You have to have a cofounder.

Cofounder 143

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Kenya Dilution 143

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

What is it, and how should founders think about it? Below, we talk to Glen Mello , Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank’s accelerator team in Boston. [Ed. We’d look at a company and the relationship we have with investors, management team, founders, etc. NVV: Is there any dilution? first and foremost.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2020

Ability to raise money, manage it, and think in financial terms. A great inventor is most often a lone technologist who doesn’t have the interest or skills for building and managing a team. In fact, they may fear team leadership as a burden, or a potential dilution of their ownership.

Founder 312

Founder Intellectual Property Dilution Startup 312

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-Founders to help you? The downside is loss of control and financial dilution.

Hockey Stick 268

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 268

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 4, 2023

Joe Flanagan, Founder, 90s Fashion World No, Too Many Lenders While the idea of sourcing capital from multiple smaller sources is an enticing one, the reality is far less pleasant. Too many lenders to keep track of makes it hard to manage the various people who have a stake in your venture and their different expectations.

Startup 141

Startup Campaign Cofounder Venture Capital 141

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

To be clear, these are hires we are talking about, not co-founders. Co-founders are an entirely different discussion and I am not talking about them in this post. The other important data point is the number of fully diluted shares. Let's say that is 10mm shares outstanding. x $125k which is equal to $31.25k.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2018

A popular myth these days is that finishing college only dilutes your entrepreneurial instincts, and the best of the best, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out early to hasten their success. I agree with Robert E. Practical business courses are better than an advanced degree or MBA. Get real experience early.

Chad 242

Chad Incubator Startup Dilution 242

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The downside is loss of control and financial dilution.

Hockey Stick 144

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 144

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 1, 2009

I was reading one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs, VentureHacks, this weekend and noticed that they are running a long piece on how to pick a co-founder. Once it’s set up I recommend bringing in a co-founder and giving them 10-30% of the company depending upon when you bring them in. You’ll be fine.

Hiring 289

Hiring Cofounder Dilution Startup 289

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 8, 2023

Obvious caveats to my POV here, most specifically: exposure is limited to largely the US/SiliconValley ecosystem, driven by our own portfolio, my friends and co-investors, the funds I’m a LP in, and our institutional LP relationships. These mutant unicorns may not recover without dramatic changes to culture and strategy, not just spend.

Portfolio 99

Portfolio Cap Table LP Valuation 99

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

When you do, my 20% becomes 15% and thus my true price for your round is actually higher than it appears when I invested because I already know I’m going to face more dilution for options. If you have 8 senior managers in place and I don’t think you’ll need as many people I might accept an option pool of 8% unallocated.

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Post-Money Valuation Dilution 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-Founders to help you? The downside is loss of control and financial dilution.

Founder 245

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 245

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

I know that some founders feel uncomfortable with this as though they might somehow be sharing something so confidential that it ultimately hurts you. If a VC prices a flat or down round it means that management teams are often taking too much dilution. Why shouldn’t most founders just name a price? After all?—?we

Valuation 324

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2015

Every entrepreneur needs to understand the following basics, to be addressed at company formation, as they engage a qualified attorney to draw up the paperwork: Allocate founder’s stock commensurate with commitment. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. This is called stock dilution control.

Stock 120

Stock Vesting Common Stock Founder Vesting 120

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 7, 2017

Employee options pools, typically created at the point of financings, shouldn’t be treated as haggling over dilution, but rather a strategic resource that will help founders build the best team and, by extension, a more valuable company.

Equity 94

Equity Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Founder 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2018

Unfortunately, in my years since as a small business advisor, I have seen too many founders squander this asset through a lack of understanding of some basic legal and operational issues, or by handing out nominally “free” stock to the wrong people at the wrong time. Manage dilution with proper use of new investment terms.

Stock 129

Stock Vesting Preferred Stock Cofounder 129

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

A popular myth these days is that finishing college only dilutes your entrepreneurial instincts, and the best of the best, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out early to hasten their success. I agree with Robert E. Practical business courses are better than an advanced degree or MBA. Get real experience early.

Chad 279

Chad Incubator Dilution LLC 279

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

I have personally sold many copies of his book, and continue to recommend it as one of the most important books a startup founder can read. Brant and Patrick undertook a difficult challenge: to provide a generally accessible introduction to Customer Development, without diluting its impact or dumbing-down its principles.

Customer Development 166

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 166

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

This is a guest post from Stephano Kim , former co-founder of Web 1.0 Many startup CEOs hire COOs or launch companies with a co-founder carrying the title. When should founders hire one? The needs of each founder are so different from the next, and the challenges his/her business faces are even more diverse.

Hiring 336

Hiring Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder 336

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Leadership & Managing | Tuesdays. LEADERSHIP & MANAGING. Managing Creativity. Durkin , managing partner with the Boston -based law firm Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove LLP. Chip Morse , cofounder and partner with Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton P.C., Technology | Thursdays. The Goods: Your Business Toolbox | Thursdays.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Co-founder discontent. Fred Wilson as usual said it better and more succinctly than I in this post : ” … we only manage funds in the $150mm to $200mm range, we only need to invest in 6-10 new companies a year and we only need a third of them to work. Co-investors are critical. Health destroying stress.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 23, 2015

However, when you do this, you sacrifice your credibility and dilute your link authority. 3) Co-create content with other authorities in your niche market. 4) Claim and manage your client’s local listings. 6) Manage your client’s online reputation. This is more of a technical SEO tactic, but still very important.

SEO 28

SEO Technical Review Illinois Reputation 28

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Investing: a new option for founders who care about control. III: Why are Revenue-Based VCs investing in so many women and underrepresented founders?

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Agile VC

MAY 9, 2014

Some context… like many startups, the founders of Alibaba still own substantial stakes in the company and believe it’s in the company’s best interests for them to retain an outsized influence in the company’s governance longer term. Companies like Ford and the New York Times Co.

Government 153

Government Silicon Valley China Cofounder 153